Early life

Short was born 1 June 1965 in Leigh, Lancashire. He grew up in Atherton, going to the St Philip's Primary School on Bolton Old Road. He studied at the independent Bolton School and Leigh College. He was a member both of Atherton Chess Club, which was founded by his father, David, and later of Bolton Chess Club, which had initially rejected him, aged seven, for being too young.

In 1993 Short, then aged 27, joined The King's Singers. It was while performing with this ensemble that Short conceived of creating a larger group of singers capable of more "passionate sounds" combined with "the precision of ensembles like The King's Singers", and a more "theatrical" style of performing within religious buildings, involving movement around the performance venue as well as dramatic use of lighting and ambiance. The result was Tenebrae, founded in 2001. The choir was launched that year with a performance of Nigel Short's own composition, The Dream of Herod. The choir has extensively toured to critical acclaim, and won the Choral category of BBC Music Magazine's Awards in 2012.

Famous quotes by Nigel Short:

"A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused"

"I have traveled all over the world, about 70 countries, and meeting so many foreign people leads to a greater appreciation of their culture."

"Chess is ruthless: you've got to be prepared to kill people."

"Surely, serious problems can't be solved just by talking about them."

"Well, Gibraltar is a place which you either love or hate. I quite like it. It's a rock, that is essentially what it is. It's a British colony."

"Of course I'm not a racist, but I'm certainly right wing, there's no question about that."

"We have a large underclass in Britain, and a fairly low standard of education. Our best universities are extremely good, but a very significant proportion of the British population that comes out of compulsory schooling with very low standards of education."

"[Short's career was dominated by his rivalry with Garry Kasparov, the player with the highest rating of all time. They met as juniors, then as grandmasters, and finally in the 1993 world championship. Kasparov came out on top in 1993, as he usually had.] I had him on the ropes in several games, ... but he was incredibly tenacious. He suffered in a lot of the games, but because of his resilience I wasn't able to put him out. I discovered there was more to his genius than just his opening preparation, though that is one of his great strengths. He's like some guy with a massive serve: you think, if only I can manage to return it, I'll be there. But then you discover that he can play rallies as well."

"A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused."

Early life

Short was born 1 June 1965 in Leigh, Lancashire. He grew up in Atherton, going to the St Philip's Primary School on Bolton Old Road. He studied at the independent Bolton School and Leigh College. He was a member both of Atherton Chess Club, which was founded by his father, David, and later of Bolton Chess Club, which had initially rejected him, aged seven, for being too young.